Tea and Sympathy
by Katathean
Summary: Set after Something Frightening, Erin refuses to return to the Castle beyond the Goblin City until Jareth apologises. Jareth learns that the words 'I'm sorry' are worth nothing unless you mean them.


**Something Frightening – Tea and Sympathy**

"'Nother cuppa, dearie?"

"Thank you Annie, I'd love one."

Erin sipped from the cup, savouring the spicy flavour of the tea. She smiled at the pale pink worm seated across the table from her. She'd taken Tim the worm up on his offer of tea and 'meeting the missus' five months ago and discovered he hadn't been exaggerating in his statement that she made a 'lovely cuppa'. Annie's tea was beyond compare, a subtle blend of smoke and spice that did more to quench the thirst than any other drink Erin had encountered. Now she visited Tim and Annie every week, sometimes bringing Annie's brother Roger along with her. Although they never spoke of it Erin knew the worms were grateful – it was a long trek from Roger's home in the outer wall of the Castle beyond the Goblin City to Tim and Annie's home on the outskirts of the Labyrinth.

Erin had gone so far beyond her original disbelief at her ability to enter Tim's home it was hard for her to remember how it had felt. Now it seemed perfectly normal to approach a two inch hole in a thirty foot wall and step through it into a regular sized kitchen. The worms were no larger than they were outside the house and Erin was no smaller. But the cups were the right size for whoever was using them and that was all that mattered in the long run. Erin looked forward to her weekly visits to the little kitchen on the edge of the Labyrinth. She wondered if Annie would mind her coming by more often; it would make things so much easier for her.

Her musings were interrupted by Tim's voice.

"Someone here for you, love."

Before she had the chance to ask who it was a skinny and unkempt goblin stumbled into the kitchen. He looked up into Erin's face then gulped and fixed his eyes on the floor.

"Y-your Majesty," he stammered, not lifting his gaze again.

"I've told you all not to call me that," Erin sighed. It wasn't that she particularly objected to the term but she _was_ tired of being manipulated.

"I-I'm sorry your M-majesty, but it's the King's orders." The goblin began to shake as Erin growled in frustration. "He said we must address you properly, your Majesty."

"You're going to need a lot of stamps then," Erin muttered under her breath. She heard Tim chuckling and had to work to suppress a smile. She drew herself up and continued in a regal manner. "His Majesty the Goblin King knows full well why I don't wish to be addressed by that title."

"Not for me to say, your Majesty, I'm sure," he replied, ducking his head even lower. "The King requests your presence in the Castle."

"Does he now?"

"Yes your Majesty he does." The goblin risked a peek up at her before adding. "He said if it would please your Majesty to attend him he would be grateful."

Erin clearly heard Annie's gasp of surprise. She didn't wonder at it; for Jareth to say 'please' was astonishing, but to also say 'thank you' in however a round-about way was unheard of. Never in the whole history of the Labyrinth had the Goblin King done anything of the sort. Erin turned back to the goblin and sighed.

"If he wants me to come back he knows what he has to do," she said with a shrug. Taking pity on the trembling figure she added, "I'm not expecting you to go and tell him so, don't worry."

The goblin fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to the flagstone floor, stammering out his gratitude. Erin gave a soft chuckle at the sight. Even now Jareth's reaction to disappointment was swift and painful. He definitely believed in shooting the messenger if the missive wasn't to his liking.

"Why don't you go and lose yourself somewhere for a few days?" she suggested with a smile. The goblin looked up at her, hope and shock warring on his lizard-like face. "I hear the Fire Gang are having another party and they always welcome company."

"Yes, your Majesty," the goblin stammered, rising to his feet and bowing low as he backed towards the door. "Thank you, your Majesty."

Annie waited until he had gone before confronting Erin.

"Erin, don't you think that was a bit stupid, dearie?" Her yellow eyes were full of concern. "The King isn't a patient man and your games will only annoy him."

"She's right love," Tim added, coming to the table. He kissed Annie's cheek when she put a fresh cup of tea in front of him. "You're playing with fire if you start taking him for granted."

"But it's alright for him to take me for granted is it?" Erin demanded. "He snaps his fingers and I'm supposed to come running? Worship at his feet? Not bloody likely!"

She raised her voice as she continued.

"Jareth knows what he has to do and I'm not going back to the Castle until he does it."

Both worms looked around as though they expected Jareth to appear at any moment. When the room remained quiet and peaceful they relaxed.

"Honestly Erin, what are you like?" Annie demanded with a nervous chuckle. "No one takes the King's name in vain and gets away with it."

"No one except me," Erin smiled, finishing her tea. She put down her cup and sighed. "It's been half a year, Annie and he still hasn't apologised. He got his own way, trampled all over everyone in the process and expects to get away with it. Well, not this time."

"But to ignore his commands," Tim put in with a shudder. "It's not a good idea to annoy him, love. You of all people should know that."

"It'll all come out in the wash," Erin said philosophically. "It always does. Anyway, I think I'd better hustle along somewhere else. Don't want to get you two into trouble, do I?"

The worms had wished her a safe journey, muttering to each other before she was even really out of earshot. Erin strolled at a leisurely pace through the twisting paths of the Labyrinth. They no longer confused her as they had once done. While Jareth was still the unchallenged master of the realm, Erin found she couldn't be tricked by the ever changing landscape any more. She always found her way to her destination no matter how the ground and walls tried to disorientate her. The denizens of the Labyrinth too had taken a liking to the strange woman who their King had declared his queen and refused to play their customary tricks on her. She treated them with more kindness than Jareth and was rewarded with a different manner of loyalty in return. They would not disobey him, carrying out his orders in their usual haphazard scramble but they also found it best not to cross the white-haired woman who seemed to regard the King as more of an annoyance than a threat. With Erin's goodwill it was possible for an unlucky goblin to evade his King's wrath until such time as Jareth forgot the transgression.

Erin paused by the large fountain in the centre of the hedge maze. This was one of her favourite places to sit and think: the tinkling of the water and the scent of the flowers scattered about were soothing, especially when Jareth was being obnoxious. She smiled down at her reflection in the water; it was clear and whole despite the fast running fountain sending splashes and ripples across the surface. Her white hair was pinned up in an artful arrangement of curls, held back from her face by sprigs of tiny purple flowers. Jareth had declared he liked her hair long and since he had the power to make desires into reality, Erin suddenly found herself with hair down to her hips. With a torrent of abuse she had snatched up the first pair of scissors she could find and cut it short. The next day it had all grown back and she was sure the whole Labyrinth had heard her screech of fury. That particular fight had lasted a month until Erin had surrendered and handed the scissors over to him with bowed head and lowered eyes. Jareth had been unbearable for the rest of the day but she had not given any indication of annoyance. It had been worth it, she reflected, to see the look of sheer fury on his face the next morning when she appeared with her hair pinned up. The best part of it was there was absolutely nothing he could do about it, short of tearing the offending restraints from the white locks and apparently he either wouldn't or couldn't do that.

Erin sat on one of the low benches, smoothing her skirts to lie in a neat half circle around her. It was her favourite outfit: a tight satin jacket that changed from purple to gold depending on how the light hit it, worn over a skirt made of a thousand shimmering rags, each one a different shade of purple. The jacket was one of the few garments she possessed that hadn't been a gift from Jareth. She had created it herself just to see if she could. One thing she truly admired about Jareth was his taste in clothes; he might be infuriating at times but he did know how to dress to impress.

"You look ravishing this evening, precious one," a suave voice holding an almost imperceptible edge of mockery drifted to her on the warm air.

_Think of the devil and he shall appear,_ Erin thought with an inward grimace. Whatever her feelings for Jareth however, she schooled her features into an expression of polite indifference.

"Good evening, your Majesty," she murmured, not taking her eyes from the rainbows shimmering in the spray from the fountain, "I trust you are well?"

"So formal, my Queen?" Jareth was just behind her, his warm breath stirring the loose curls around her ear. "You wound me."

Erin just managed to stifle a snort of laughter. It annoyed her that Jareth could make her laugh, even when she was angry with him. Although to be fair she wasn't angry any more, she was just tired, tired of being manipulated and taken for granted. She didn't know if Jareth understood why she'd left the castle and refused to return but she had to admit she was missing her comfortable rooms and the attention he lavished on her. The trouble was if she gave in on this one point, Erin might as well give up on ever being treated as anything other than a pet in the Labyrinth.

She shivered as cool fingers traced a random pattern across the nape of her neck and steeled herself for the confrontation. It looked like Jareth was going to be playing an even more unfair game than usual.

"Was there something your Majesty required?" Erin's voice was cool and detached. Her expression remained unchanged despite his caresses sending tingles up and down her spine. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing how close she was to surrendering.

She was surprised when the stroking fingers retreated, skating gently across her shoulder before disappearing completely. Jareth walked into her field of vision and Erin had to remind herself firmly not to react. He looked even more stunning than usual, the dark blue jacket with its jewelled collar the only touch of colour in his otherwise black and white ensemble. He was wearing trousers for a change, rather than the leggings that always looked like they were painted onto his muscular legs. The most stunning thing of all was his expression: his usual arrogant shark-smile was nowhere to be seen. If anything he looked a little lost.

"I want my queen to come home where she belongs," he said, all trace of mockery gone for the moment.

"Then you know what you have to do," Erin said. She watched anger and pride warring on the Goblin King's handsome face. "It's such a small thing; it should be no difficulty for a man of your greatness to accomplish."

"I have already apologised," he growled. "As I have told you before, since I met you I have broken every rule I ever made, including never having to apologise for _anything._"

"You said you were sorry," she reminded him with a sad smile, "but it isn't enough just to say the words. You have to mean them as well; otherwise it's just noises in the wind. Worthless."

"How could I leave you there?" he demanded, some of the old arrogance creeping back into his voice. "You were on the verge of wishing yourself into oblivion. Have you ever considered what might have happened if some other fae had granted your wish? If you think your treatment at my hands was cruel you would have found it to be heaven itself compared to what some of my kind would do to you."

"And yet you never considered telling me this?" Erin's voice was gentle as she reached for him. Her hand was swallowed up in his, long fingers wrapping around her wrist and stroking the soft skin there. "Instead you stole me away from my home, from my life, without so much as a by your leave."

"A life you despised. You can't tell me you really miss it." There it was, the predator's smile, back on his sharp arrogant face where it belonged. Erin couldn't suppress the answering smile that curled across her own lips. "Tell me that you would rather be back in your cold, lonely attic than living here."

"That really isn't the point, is it?" She shook her head as incomprehension flitted across his face. "The point is that you stole me. You didn't ask, didn't explain, just took me away and didn't let me go when I won my freedom by your own rules."

"I am the Goblin King," he said with a flick of his head, "I must obey my nature."

"I wouldn't have you do anything else but you must accept that I am bound by the same dictates as you. It is against _my_ nature to be caged and manipulated. There is nothing I can do to change that."

Erin rose to her feet and faced him, willing him to understand, to see the world from someone else's point of view for a change. She couldn't deny that she loved him, adored everything about him, down to the smallest infuriating quirk of his mercurial nature. But she could not - _would not - _live as a subordinate, a pet, expected to indulge her master's whims without ever receiving any respect in return.

"How would you like it if I wrested control of the Labyrinth from you? Turned it to my purpose and reduced you to a mere courtesan, a thing of beauty with no purpose but to serve my will and indulge whatever whim crossed my mind at the time?"

"Impossible."

"Not as impossible as you might think," Erin told him, her smile widening as comprehension dawned. Jareth's eyes stilled for a moment in their ever shifting dance of colour, now the same rich midnight as his coat. "I've learned a lot in the last few months and I could easily take the kingdom from you. Kindness garners more loyalty than fear and the majority of your subjects have experienced my kindness by now. With them behind me there is little you could do to stop me."

"You wouldn't." There was uncertainty in his voice however and his eyes searched hers for any sign she wasn't serious.

"You're right, I wouldn't. But that doesn't mean I can't. Just that I choose not to." She stepped into him, skirts brushing against his legs. "And I promise you if I ever do, I will tell you why first."

His smile returned, eyes shifting back to the deep emerald that was reserved for her alone. His arms slid round her, pulled her close and his smile widened as he met with no resistance. One hand slid up to her hair and the long curling tresses tumbled free, the purple blooms undisturbed. Erin allowed him to tilt her face up to his and she melted against him, his lips brushing hers as he whispered,

"I _am_ sorry."

This time, he meant it.

* * *

**A/N - **I wasn't planning to write sequel to Something Frightening but all of a sudden Erin and Jareth were rowing in my head and this little ficlet is the result. It's a bit daft I know but it was screaming to be written and who am I to argue with the voices in my head?

Plus I always wondered what the blue worm's 'missus' looked like - Annie is pink and white with shorter, curlier tufts of hair than Tim, she's got gold coloured eyes and she wears a little green and yellow apron (instead of a scarf).


End file.
